Infantryman tries to forget the fighting he saw in WWII

Published: Monday, July 22, 2013 at 09:30 AM.

Wilson spent the summer of 1944 in basic training at Camp Croft, S.C., where he faced a crash course on infantry, from machine guns to hand grenades.

“We had a conscientious objector in our group,” Wilson said. “He wouldn’t throw a grenade so they made him throw a rock. He wouldn’t carry a gun so they made him carry a stick. He wanted to be a medic because he knew as a medic he wouldn’t have to kill anyone. Eventually they gave him what he wanted.”

Before basic training, he thought the toughest part would be getting cussed at all day, but learning all the infantry weapons proved to be much harder, he said.

“They’d do everything but hit us,” Wilson said. “They made us soldiers and good ones at that. They taught us to stay alive.”

Receiving a furlough after graduating, Wilson returned to Richlands. Just a few days later, his wife had to see him depart again by bus.

He was destined for Europe aboard the British ship, The Queen Mary.

“It was a beautiful ship,” Wilson said. “It’s just a shame that my time on it was spent puking like crazy. I was seasick and homesick — I couldn’t keep a mouthful down.”

When Norwood Wilson left for war, he left a pregnant wife and two children.

Nine months later, the birth of his daughter brought him home.

“My wife had come to visit me after I graduated basic — right before I got shipped off to the war,” said Wilson, 90. “Nine months later, the Red Cross told me my daughter had been born and I was going home.”

With his third child, Wilson accrued enough service points to qualify his discharge from the Army and grant his return home to Richlands, where he lives today.

After nine months, Wilson was glad to leave the war behind.

Still today, he has to try to forget the fighting, he said.

“I was 22 when I was drafted,” Wilson said. “I felt like I should go. I knew them boys were having a time over there. They asked us what branch we wanted to join, but we really didn’t have no choice. They told us we were all going Army infantry … you just went along with it.”

Wilson spent the summer of 1944 in basic training at Camp Croft, S.C., where he faced a crash course on infantry, from machine guns to hand grenades.

“We had a conscientious objector in our group,” Wilson said. “He wouldn’t throw a grenade so they made him throw a rock. He wouldn’t carry a gun so they made him carry a stick. He wanted to be a medic because he knew as a medic he wouldn’t have to kill anyone. Eventually they gave him what he wanted.”

Before basic training, he thought the toughest part would be getting cussed at all day, but learning all the infantry weapons proved to be much harder, he said.

“They’d do everything but hit us,” Wilson said. “They made us soldiers and good ones at that. They taught us to stay alive.”

Receiving a furlough after graduating, Wilson returned to Richlands. Just a few days later, his wife had to see him depart again by bus.

He was destined for Europe aboard the British ship, The Queen Mary.

“It was a beautiful ship,” Wilson said. “It’s just a shame that my time on it was spent puking like crazy. I was seasick and homesick — I couldn’t keep a mouthful down.”

The Queen Mary crossed the Atlantic in six days before leaving a crew of soldiers in England. That crew then boarded a U.S. Navy ship and bound for France.

Once again, the men crammed into trucks that would take them to a foreign place, he said.

“We knew exactly where we were going and I was scared,” Wilson said. “They dropped us off within walking distance of the Battle of the Bulge. It was so cold. Ice and snow everywhere. I’m lucky I didn’t get frostbite. My feet get cold thinking about it.”

The battle was winding up as soon as Wilson and the 101st Infantry arrived.

“I’d rather not talk about the fighting,” Wilson said. “(The Bulge) is where I really realized what war was all about.”

Wilson and the men of the 101st fought nearly two weeks non-stop.

During those nearly two weeks of fighting, Wilson lost his good friend, Thomas.

“Infantry is all about the buddy system,” Wilson said. “He was my buddy. I shared a foxhole with him. He carried the other half of our pup tent.”

After the Battle of the Bulge settled, Wilson was assigned to a foot-mobile mortar section.

As they journeyed toward Germany, it was hard to keep up with Gen. Patton’s mechanized units, which were further ahead of them, he said.

“I was so glad to get out of (the Bulge),” Wilson said. “I was even happier when they told me later I was going home. I don’t use the word hell but that’s what war is: hell.

“And there’s a few things I know for sure,” he said. “I wasn’t anything special. I wasn’t no hero. I didn’t get no medals. And I was scared – boy was I scared.”

The Daily News seeks World War II veterans who want to share their stories.

If you or someone you know served in World War II, contact Military Reporter Thomas Brennan at 910-219-8453 or thomas.brennan@jdnews.com . Follow him on Twitter @ thomasjbrennan.